Bill Text: HI HR164 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Establishing An Investigating Committee To Follow Up On The Audits Of The Department Of Land And Natural Resources' Special Land And Development Fund, Report No. 19-12, And Agribusiness Development Corporation, Report No. 21-01; To Examine The Recommendations Made In Those Audits; And For Purposes Of Improving The Operations And Management Of These State Agencies, Their Funds, And Any Other Matters.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2021-04-29 - Resolution adopted in final form. [HR164 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2021-HR164-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

164

THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 


HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

Establishing an investigating committee To follow up on the audits of the Department of Land and Natural Resources' Special Land and Development Fund, Report No. 19-12, and Agribusiness Development Corporation, Report No. 21-01; To examine the recommendations made in those audits; and For purposes of improving the operations and management of these state agencies, their funds, and any other matters.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, the Legislature is vested with the responsibility of determining state policy and appropriating public funds; and

 

     WHEREAS, to promote transparency, accountability, and the proper functioning of the state government, the Legislature requires audits to examine the efficiency and effectiveness of government programs or agencies or the fairness of the financial statements of the State and its agencies; and

 

     WHEREAS, pursuant to Act 209, Session Laws of Hawaii 2017, the State Auditor submitted an audit of the Department of Land and Natural Resources' Special Land and Development Fund (Report No. 19-12), which made several recommendations for the Board of Land and Natural Resources, Department of Land and Natural Resources' Land Division, and Department of Land and Natural Resources based on the following findings:

 

     (1)  Without a strategic plan for its public lands, the management of leases and revocable permits by the Department of Land and Natural Resources' Land Division defaults to maintaining the status quo rather than exploring higher and better use;

 

     (2)  Lack of complete and coherent policies and procedures prevents the Department of Land and Natural Resources' Land Division from adequately managing its leases and revocable permits; and

 

     (3)  Lack of transparency and accountability hinders the administration of the Special Land and Development Fund; and

 

     WHEREAS, the State Auditor also submitted a performance audit of the Agribusiness Development Corporation (Report No. 21-01) pursuant to Act 28, Session Laws of Hawaii 2019, which found:

 

     (1)  The Agribusiness Development Corporation has done little to fill the economic void created by the closure of the sugar and pineapple plantations;

 

     (2)  The Agribusiness Development Corporation's land management struggles expose the State to unnecessary risk;

 

     (3)  The Agribusiness Development Corporation's Board of Directors provide minimal guidance and oversight to the corporation; and

 

     (4)  The Agribusiness Development Corporation's financial records were not auditable; and

 

     WHEREAS, the State Auditor made twenty-eight recommendations for the Agribusiness Development Corporation as a whole and five recommendations specifically for the Board of Directors of the Agribusiness Development Corporation to address the issues identified in the audit; and

 

     WHEREAS, the implementation of the recommendations made in the audits of the Department of Land and Natural Resources' Special Land and Development Fund and Agribusiness Development Corporation are of great interest to the House of Representatives and public to ensure the proper operation and management of state programs and agencies; and

 

     WHEREAS, chapter 21, Hawaii Revised Statutes, establishes "procedures governing legislative investigating committees to provide for the creation and operation of legislative investigating committees in a manner which will enable them to perform properly the powers and duties vested in them, including the conduct of hearings, in a fair and impartial manner, consistent with protection of the constitutional rights of persons called to testify at such hearings and preservation of the public good"; and

 

     WHEREAS, section 21-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, authorizes the establishment of an investigating committee by a single house resolution, and Rule 28.12 of the Rules of the House of Representatives for the Thirty-First Legislature allows for the establishment of an investigating committee pursuant to chapter 21, Hawaii Revised Statutes, for the purposes therein mentioned; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2021, that an investigating committee is established pursuant to chapter 21, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and may operate during the interim between the 2021 and 2022 Regular Sessions; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the purpose and duties of the investigating committee and the subject matter and scope of its investigative authority shall be:

 

     (1)  To follow up on the audits of the Department of Land and Natural Resources' Special Land and Development Fund, Report No. 19-12, and Agribusiness Development Corporation, Report No. 21-01;

 

     (2)  To examine the recommendations made in those audits; and

 

     (3)  For purposes of improving the operations and management of these state agencies, their funds, and any other matters; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the investigating committee shall have every power and function allowed to an investigating committee by law, including without limitation the power to:

 

     (1)  Adopt rules for the conduct of its proceedings;

 

     (2)  Issue subpoenas requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and subpoenas duces tecum requiring the production of books, documents, records, papers, or other evidence in any matter pending before the investigating committee;

 

     (3)  Hold hearings appropriate for the performance of its duties, at times and places as the investigating committee determines;

 

     (4)  Administer oaths and affirmations to witnesses at hearings of the investigating committee;

 

     (5)  Report or certify instances of contempt as provided in section 21-14, Hawaii Revised Statutes;

 

     (6)  Determine the means by which a record shall be made of its proceedings in which testimony or other evidence is demanded or adduced;

 

     (7)  Employ professional, technical, clerical, or other staff and expend such funds appropriated for the House of Representatives operating expenses for 2021 as necessary for the proper performance of its duties;

 

     (8)  Provide for the submission, by a witness's own counsel and counsel for another individual or entity about whom the witness has devoted substantial or important portions of the witness's testimony, of written questions to be asked of the witness by the chair; and

 

     (9)  Exercise all other powers specified under chapter 21, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, with respect to an investigating committee; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the investigating committee shall consist of at least five members, including a chair and vice chair, to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives exclusively from the membership of the House of Representatives; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Speaker of the House of Representatives may, from time to time, refer to the investigating committee specific matters that fall within the scope of the investigating committee's jurisdiction, and the investigating committee shall work in cooperation with the Speaker of the House of Representatives for the purposes stated in this Resolution; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the investigating committee shall submit its written findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the House of Representatives prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2022 and cease to exist upon the adjournment sine die of the Regular Session of 2022 unless extended; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, and Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Agribusiness Development Corporation.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Investigating Committee; Audits; DLNR; ADC

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